The Boarding Review
We made it! What a term…possibly the longest for many years which has seen so many collective and individual achievements. The content of this review highlights, once again, what we can achieve together and the plethora of activities on offer for Boarders outside of the classroom. The end of the year heralds the start of a new year and new beginnings, which has led me to ask the question: is Christmas more than just a holiday?
Christmas time is a season that invites us to reflect upon values that transcend time, making it profoundly relevant even in today’s fastpaced, ever-changing world.At its heart, Christmas teaches us about hope, generosity, and the power of connection. These lessons are as important today as they were centuries ago.As we face a world grappling with division, environmental concerns, and rapid technological shifts, Christmas serves as a gentle reminder of the enduring values that can unite us. It teaches us to slow down, to find joy in simplicity, and to remember the humanity in ourselves and others. So, yes, Christmas is still profoundly relevant. It’s not just a holiday - it’s a guide, a reminder that the best of human nature can shine bright, even in the coldest of winters. Let’s carry its spirit forward, not just in December, but all year long.
We are thrilled to welcome Ms Sarah Oliver, new Bolton Houseparent, from January 2025 who is eager to meet students and parents alike. It has been my pleasure to have led Bolton House this term and I would like to thank the staff and parents for their support…it really does take a village to raise a child.And finally, thank you to the students for reminding us not to take life too seriously.
Tom Leighton. Director of Boarding.
Welcome to Boarding
Monday was a busy day with Boarders arriving from all around the globe.
Rooms were quickly settled into and students and parents toured around the Boarding site and the main school at Shooting Field.
Parents were able to chat with each other as well as the Houseparents and resident staff during the evening meal after which Mr Leighton introduced the resident staff.
Off to School
Our new students in Years 9 and 12 headed off to school with a few of our other students to guide them. It’s just a few minutes’walk to the Shooting Field campus and the weather was perfect.
Buying the “essentials”
Boarding ran an extra minibus to the Shoreham Tesco superstore so that students could stock up on their essential needs for the start of term. These varied from fitted sheets to a variety of chocolate snacks. The strangest? An inflatable chair for those comfortable and relaxing evenings.
Walk to Chanctonbury Ring
After brunch, students were gathered in the dining room and placed into groups for a 10K walk to Chanctonbury Ring, a well known site on the South Downs Way, and back.
The weather seemed to be holding though light wet weather gear was recommended just in case.
Students set out in staggered groups and in two directions for the circular route. Mr Reeves had been out in advance on his mountain bike ensuring that the paths and turns were clearly marked and had caught some early rain.
Avoiding the rain
With the forecast for heavy rain, and Boarding camp called off, the evening activity was changed.
In its place Ms Templeman hosted a BBQ and outdoor film evening on the Bennett House lawn.
Picnic tables were carried round and the huge inflatable screen set up. Music and video from Glastonbury played whilst students availed themselves of the various flame-grilled delights. The evening finished off with a film though this had to be moved inside as the threatened rain began to arrive.
And then the heavens opened
The decision to cancel camp was more than justified. Boarders went up to theAstroturf to play football the next morning and incredibly heavy rain lashed down from the skies, briefly turning the court into a giant puddle. Fortunately the day was warm and they bravely played on.
the year. (Construction of the present building was begun in 1090 though there was a previous wooden church on the site built by St Cuthman around 700.)
Brighton Orientation
On the first Saturday, all of Boarding were bussed to the local train station and from there, by train, to Brighton. We do this every year to familiarise our students with Brighton and how to get there and back if they wish to go there.
After exploring the shops in the city students met up at the Brighton Pavilion before moving on to our favourite Italian restaurant, Donatello’s.
Bargain
Hunt and CharityAuction
For several years now, our student leaders have taken part in an event based on the TV show “Bargain Hunt”. The Head and Deputy Head Girls and Boys each have £20 to spend at a car boot sale. Having bought, hopefully wisely, they then offer up their wares in a charity auction a week later.
Well done to our student leaders for raising over £230 pounds! It was decided to donate the money to Children With Cancer which is the charity that Camille, in Year 13, raised £593 pounds for by running in an Ultramarathon.
Lakeside & IKEA shopping trip
Twenty staff and Boarders set off for the Lakeside shopping centre and the huge IKEAjust next to it. Timings were aimed to miss the rush hours.
Nigerian Independence Day
Nigerian Independence Day has become one of our most popular themed meals. This year Glory came in to cook for us and made Ghanaian jollof rice with chicken and plantain. There was non-alcoholic “Chapman” to drink as well as puff puff as a snack on the tables.
We would like to extend out huge gratitude to Glory for her hard effort and the tremendous food she provided for us. It was a great evening with a Kahoot quiz at the end to test people’s general knowledge about Nigeria.
Fire safety talk
We are always grateful to the crew from Steyning Fire Station, many of whom are old boys of Steyning Grammar, for coming in each year to remind our students about fire safety protocols.
This year Richard gave a lot of information about the dangers of leaving things, from e-bikes to mobile phones, on charge overnight.
He asked how much the smoke alarm he was showing us would cost and then revealed that you can obtain one for free! So word to the wise…. Get one soon.
E-Safety talk
Mr Tubb came into Boarding to update our students on the increasingly important matter of on-line safety. He also delved into the amount of phone screen time plus gaming time and the effect it might have on academic progress. He had students check their phones to see how much screen time they had for the week with students standing to start with and then sitting as the amount increased.
Password safety was another issue discussed with at least one of our students having theirs on the “top 100” list meaning a hacker would have cracked it in seconds.
Skating
What better on a Saturday evening than going skating? Boarding students had signed up earlier in the week, giving their shoe sizes, and headed down to the school sports hall. There they were equipped with skates and began to show off their skills, or lack of, to a background of music and occasional laughter.
Thorpe Park trip
After a swift breakfast on Saturday morning, 40+ Boarders set off in a convoy of minibuses to Thorpe Park for their “Fright Night” experience. Quite a few used the journey to catch up on some sleep as shown by this pic from the second member of staff on the bus.
Student picture competition
Well done to all the students that sent in photos. Having polled several members of staff, first place - and a full box of Mr Treadwell’s flapjack - goes to Chloe. Second place goes toAnna who only narrowly beat Dan into third place. They get a half box each. Thanks to all who sent in their pictures.
National Boarding orchard
In 2014 Robin Fletcher, National Director of the Boarding SchoolAssociation planted this Egremont Russet apple tree as the first tree in a national boarding orchard. Schools all over the country have since planted apple trees as part of it.
This year, ten years on, Mr David Walker, Executive Director, Boarding, and Director BSA/TIOB revisited it to commemorate the day. The tree is doing well and produced a good crop
Birthday girls
Sisters Erin and Sapphire have their birthdays fairly close together in September and October.
Erin’s favourite cake is a Victoria sponge whilst Sapphire prefers cheesecake over the sponge varieties. Happy birthday girls!
Activities
Evening activities in Boarding vary between table tennis competitions, origami, attending orchestras, dances and singing in the choir. There are also quizzes & board games evenings with more unusual activities planned over the year to come.
Needle Felting
In preparation for the coming Christmas season Ms Barnard has been introducing our students to the art of “Needle Felting”. This involves roughly shaping a ball of wool and then using a barbed needle to stab the mass and form a felt material.
The level of talent was a little varied but most gave it a good try as they began to learn their new skills.
Who to turn to
Rod Scott, the Chair of Boarding Governors, introduced Victoria Ryan to the Boarding students.
Victoria is our independent person and is just a phone call away if any students have any issues they would like to bring up without referring to school staff, or just for a chat.
UCAS and planning the year ahead
Mrs Randall has taken two group sessions with our year 12 and 13 students helping them plan their work, exams and UCAS applications through the coming year.
Pumpkin carving
Friday night was pumpkin carving night. Two tables’ worth of keen Boarders hacked away at their pumpkins for nearly an hour, producing some very creditable examples of the art.
The first three places were judged by our Boarding chef Woody. In third place, due to the quirky cocktail umbrellas, was Sophie with the joint creation of Kayode and A’din coming in second. First place, and a Golden Ticket for the end of year prize draw, went to Ollie.
Hallowe’en
The dining room was decoratesd with a variety of spooks, spiders and festive balloons in readiness for our Hallowe’en evening meal.
The main event, however, were the activities, dressing up and games that followed.
Boarding Olympics
Boarders formed four “country” teams (UK, China, USAand Nigeria) and competed in some less than traditional sports in an attempt to win gold medals and the all important Golden Tickets. (At the end of the school year three Golden Tickets are drawn with prizes of Amazon vouchers for £200, £100 and £50…. So they are well worth earning!)
The first team task was to create their bespoke country shirts.
The sports for this year were table tennis, golf putting, basketball shooting, crossbow, noodle foam javelin, the round Bolton relay and, that most traditional of all, human hungry hippos.
Congratulations to Team Nigeria, seen here with their medals and Golden Tickets.
Sixth Form Evening
Anumber of Boarders went to assist with the school 6th Form open evening. Our year 11 students, together with those from the dayschool, attended one of two sessions to talk about their possible choices for subjects next year.
Travelling far and wide
Mr Leighton braved RAF flights and a stopover in “a small metal hut” to travel to the Falkland Islands in the first half of the term. The advice given to him by one of our ex-students was “Take a pillow”.
The Islands do not have the facilities for students to takeAlevels and so one of their options is to attend a boarding school in the UK.
Mr Leighton can be seen here in front of a “waddle” of penguins and now appreciates the change in environment that face students coming to SGS from the Islands.
Remembrance Sunday
Proudly displayed in the Boarding dining room is the plaque commemorating those who lost their lives in the First World War. This was previously housed in what was originally the old Grammar School. That building, which was bought to be used for the school in 1614, was dendro-dated to the 1450s. There are three names on both the plaque and carved into the wall in Big School (one of the two main rooms in the original building). There is also the name “Hansen” there, dated 1922 with his two brothers, Carl and George, on the memorial.
Several years ago the smaller central plaque, commemorating those lost in WW2 was added and, more recently, the smaller one on the right for James Brynin who died inAfghanistan in 2013 and is still remembered by staff in the school.
Boarders gathered to remember them all in a service in the dining room.
“They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old. Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn. At the going down of the sun and in the morning, we will remember them.”
Air Training Corps
Mr Middleton, one of the ATC officers, came with two of his sergeants to give the Boarders an idea of the activities offered by their local squadron. Both he and the students with him gave an excellent account of what the squadron did and what to expect in the upcoming “bring a friend” evening.
The Boarding students were so impressed that a number had a chat afterward and decided to give it a try. In fact we now have a number of regular attendees.
Wall hangings in place
The process of making the cultural wall hangings is finally over and the results are up in the Boarding dining room…. and they look fantastic!
The welcome return of Boarding Bingo
Over the years Bingo has proven to be a very popular evening activity…. and this year is no different. After an initially quiet start, with Mr Middleton doing the number calling, excitement began to build. One student got first one line, and then a second, winning both the tubes of Pringles whilst others began to call out for the number they needed for the coveted “Full House”. This would win you not only a small prize but also a “Golden Ticket”. (These tickets are drawn just after the last half term with 1st, 2nd and 3rd prizes of £200, £100 and £50 inAmazon vouchers.)
Over the evening three full houses, all by different students, were won, with the last being the most frantic as 5 students were waiting for just one number.
After the event burgers were served in Bennett House whilst it was hot dogs in Bolton.
Mini-Brick Pets
It was a quiet Sunday afternoon when about a dozen Boarders gathered to make “Mini-Brick Pets”. These are puppies and kittens made from micro “Lego” style bricks - each one having over 200 of various shapes and sizes. Some ploughed straight in whilst others counted out their bricks to ensure they had the complete set. Soon they were well under way and over the period of an hour and a half the cute creatures began to appear.
It proved to be a very social affair with lots of chat across the table and only one cry of anguish as their creation was dropped on the floor.
In the end the pets were carried away to be awarded the pride of place on shelves in rooms.
The idea was to have students facing the screen with staff bringing out the appropriate food at precise times. Ms T. had a timer running and the staff, wearing their bad guys beanies, delivered pizzas, popcorn, drinks, mocktails, TV dinners, milkshakes and ice cream with a whole load of toppings to the tables. The students had a great time and Ms T was given a round of applause afterward. We would also like to offer a huge thank you to Dan, the catering manager, Matthew the chef and our catering assistants for their hard work both before and during the event.
HomeAlone themed meal
Another great idea from the mind of Ms Templeman was to have a meal themed to a movie, in this case “Home Alone”.
The tables were decorated with battle plans, toy cars and quotes from the film with a pair of (fake) paint tins suspended from the ceiling.
Christmas service and meal
Dressing smartly Boarders walked the short distance to the ancient parish church of StAndrew & St Cuthman. (Cuthman was the man that legend says built the first wooden church on the site. His story is well worth looking up.) Carols were sung with interludes from the Boarding Choir.
student leaders with Mr Reeves, our Choirmaster, also leading a small group on guitars and ukuleles.
After the service Boarders and guests partook of a fine traditional feast. Crackers were pulled and hats donned.
The tapestry hangings made by the Boarders and the So-n-Sews were officially presented at the end of the meal following the traditional Christmas story variation where all the Boarders’ names are included in the story.
Leonardslee Light Walk
Students boarded our minibus and headed off to Horsham for the Leonardslee lake & gardens evening Light Show. After a quick visit to their fairground they walked around the exhibits on what turned out to be a very mild and pleasant evening.
Leonardslee welcome visitors taking photos and our students took some excellent snaps.
Boarding Tapestries officially “opened”
After our Christmas celebrations the Sew-nSews, to a thunderous round of applause, were thanked for their work on the hanging tapestries. These show the fantastic variety of backgrounds of our Boarding community. We would like to thank Amanda Duke in particular for being a driving force behind this project.
Welcome!
Afestive welcome to our new Boarding Chaplain seen here with the School Chaplain, Father Neill to the right, and with Mr Leighton below. The Revd Steven Donnison is the Minister of the Steyning Methodist Church which is just a stones throw, if you have a good arm, from the Boarding site. Revd Steven also has responsibility for Goring Methodist Church and Durrington
Year 13 Boarders, dressed from Barbies to a complete pack of Winnie the Poohs, set off after a quick breakfast. With the Poohs struggling to get their seat belts on it was a humorous start to a great day. The weather was mild after a stormy night and they raised over £3,000 for their chosen charity – The NSPCC.
Jailbreak
For many years now our Year 13 students have taken part in the 6th Form College “Jail Break”. Students “escape” from the school and board whatever outlandish transport that they have managed to arrange. This varies from tractor trailers to fire engines!
The return of “SLOGs”
In the distant past, when Mr Treadwell first came to Boarding, students had leftovers from the night before, and from the day school lunches, as a snack for when they returned from school. (S.L.O.Gs is rumoured to have stood for “Supper’s Left Overs Grilled”. But who can say?)
Over the years students were given supplies to eat in their own houses for after school snacks and SLOGs was last seen at the start of the COVID lockdown.
On Thursday 12th of December we had SLOGs again with a great variety of snacks including freshly made soup and rolls.
In the recent Food Committee, students having brought the subject up in the previous one, our catering manager, Dan, supplied a number of samples of things that could be done for an afternoon snack. These varied from sausage rolls to fruit pots.
Bolton end of term House draw
At the end of each term there is a House draw. Tickets earned throughout the term for neat rooms, helping others and generally being supportive in Boarding, are shaken up and drawn out.
This term Mr Leighton went wild on a number of websites to find the most desirable and reasonably priced items. There was quite a stir as they were laid out for all to see on the pool table. As each ticket was drawn a prize could be chosen with one or two who were absent having theirs chosen by friends and at least in picking via video-call!
The final ticket was for a small stash of items brought back from Japan by Mr Leighton. This included the very rare “Mint -choc-chip ice-cream flavoured kit kats”
